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Thoughts on Visiting the UAE as a Gay Man

January 26, 2015 by Harlan 71 Comments

Thanks for using my links to open a new credit card (US residents only)!

Just wanted to share my impressions.

While writing the previous post, a straightforward review of the Park Inn Yas Island, I wanted to get into the back story of the hotel booking and the overall impression that it left, but then decided it would be better to separate the thoughts into a different post.

When me and boyfriend decided to book the Park Inn for an 18-hour layover, I selected the double bed option without even thinking about it. Force of habit.

Then, he said out of nowhere, “Did you book two beds?” “No, why would I?”

Visiting the UAE

We read the reviews and saw that another gay couple recommended getting two separate beds, because in the UAE being homosexual is illegal. Not “participating in homosexual acts”, but simply being homosexual. For residents, the highest penalty is death. For visitors, it’s deportation, fines, or prison time.

It’s also illegal for unwed couples to share a double bed, for what’s it worth.

So after reading that, I completely canceled the first booking and re-booked for two twin beds instead.

Reserve, oops, rebook

Respecting culture

Hotel Review: Park Inn by Radisson, Abu Dhabi Yas Island, UAE

January 26, 2015 by Harlan 1 Comment

I stayed here as part of my RTW trip last year, following a superb flight on Etihad in Pearl Business class from MEL-AUH. South Pacific to the Middle East on Etihad using American AAdvantage miles is a sweet spot. For the 14 hour flight, they only charge 45,000 AAdvantage miles each way. That is a crazy steal of a deal on an amazing product.

I was also able to somehow convince United to let me drop CAI-JFK on Egyptair (which is a dry airline) in favor of Lufthansa AUH-FRA-JFK, which were pretty decent (and very “wet”) flights. It left us with an 18-hour gap to fill, and we didn’t want to stay in the airport the entire time. I poked around and decided to pay $90 for the layover at the Park Inn Yas Island. 18 hours would be plenty of time to sleep, eat, take a dip in the pool, shower, and get back to the airport.

So right when we landed, we found the chauffeur desk at AUH and took a car to the Park Inn, courtesy of Etihad (I believe the chauffeur service has since been discontinued on award bookings).

Etihad chauffeur desk

That photo encapsulates the whole experience I had that day: kind of a blur.

I did one of those where I showed up and crashed into the bed without taking pics first (bad blogger!), then woke up in a haze to a cloudy day and decided to catch up on email rather than swim.

Check in desk

Walkway to elevators

When we got to the hotel, it was still the middle of the night. We were dead tired, but the check-in agent was fast and kind, and we veritably collapsed into the separate twin beds.

Hallways

The room

Hotel Review: Radisson Blu, Terme di Galzignano, Italy

January 26, 2015 by Harlan Leave A Comment

After arriving in Venice on Swiss from ZRH, I picked up the rental car and set about orienting myself in the direction of Padova (Padua), Italy.

I went to Italy for my “round” birthday. After reading up on Venice, I made the executive decision to stay off site at the Radisson Blu in Terme di Galzignano. I wanted the freedom to spend a day or two in Venice, and then drive down to Florence if I wanted. I also wanted to see some of the Italian countryside, and it seemed like the resort was well-situated for day trips in multiple directions. And so it was.

My boyfriend and I booked 4 nights. We both have the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature, and both used our BOGO award night for 2 nights each.

We booked a “Superior Room” for 57,000 Club Carlson Gold Points for each 2-night block.

Premium room award rate

Premium Room description

But why the Superior Room?

We are both Gold in the Club Carlson program, wifi is free at all of their hotels, and for what’s it worth, breakfast is included in every room rate here. I might’ve even scored an upgrade to this room, owing to my status.

I just didn’t want to chance it. It was my birthday trip, and I wanted to be assured of my room choice before I got there.

The normal booking rate is 38,000 Gold Points, so we paid the extra 19,000 points to have our room preference locked in. Plus, I wanted to make sure I had the view of the hills. It was admittedly a purely emotional decision, and probably not the smartest, but I feel like for special occasions it’s worth it to have the peace of mind.

And also, Club Carlson points are just so easy to earn. So I never really overthink my redemptions with this program.

Getting there and first impressions

Dear lord, driving in Italy just about gave me a brain aneurysm – the highways are so poorly signed. Even though Padova was a “straight shot” on the map, in actuality, it required about half a dozen exits, each one leaving me second guessing for miles (or kilos) if I’d done the right thing.

The route to Radisson Blu

When we finally got onto the one correct highway, I saw a series of (tiny) signs pointing toward the next turn, until finally, after about a hour, we were at the Radisson Blu.

It is very isolated. There is nothing going on in the hamlet of Terme di Galzignano.

There was another tiny town nearby, Battaglia Terme, that had a couple of restaurants and not much more.

Parking was easy outside of the Radisson Blu, and we went inside to check-in. It was a beautiful, sunny day and right away, the resort felt welcoming and friendly.

The agent checking us in spoke little English and we don’t speak Italian, so it involved a huge variety of hand movements, but after a few minutes, we had our room keys. He wrote down the phone number to the hotel office and indicated that they spoke English if we needed anything. Despite the language barrier, we understood that they recognized our Gold status, combined our reservations, and were fine to let us keep the same room all 4 nights.

Then we headed up to Room 306.

The room

Trip Report: Swiss A330-300 Business Class JFK-ZRH

January 25, 2015 by Harlan Leave A Comment

Also see: Trip Report: Lufthansa First Class YYZ-MUC (also on a A330-300)

I paid for this fare after seeing it pop up on The Flight Deal as a fare attack by Star Alliance on Skyteam hubs. It cost me $1,487 R/T for Business Class on Swiss and the routing was JFK-ZRH-VCE-ZHR-EWR.

Now, when I see fare deals like this, I’m always torn between being totally impulsive and trying to think it through. This deal was on a multitude of Star Alliance partners, so I wanted to pick one that A). I’d never flown before and 2.) that would credit well to United.

Why United? They have a non-stop flight from EWR-MEM (only one of two – the other is Delta from LGA-MEM) and those flights can be either dirt cheap or prohibitively expensive. I knew I wanted to go see my Mom in the near future, and thought I could use the miles I’d earn from this booking to book the most expensive leg of a round-trip ticket, which is exactly what ended up happening.

I earned 12,493 miles from these flights – 7 miles short of a free domestic one-way

The flight to go see my Mom for Christmas was pricing out at around $450 each way on United – yes, over $900 round-trip.

I redeemed all the miles earned on these Swiss flights for a Christmas trip to visit my Mom on United and got a value of ~4 cents per mile, which is awesome. I also picked up a REDbird card while I was down there. And I got to go to Venice for my birthday – thanks to this fare.

Free flight to Memphis

Anyway, that’s the story behind the booking, back to Swiss business class.

The flight

It’s On: AAdvantage Platinum Status Challenge 2015

January 23, 2015 by Harlan 6 Comments

Also see:

Thanks to FoundersCard, I just enrolled in another American Airlines status challenge.

The T&Cs say I have to accumulate 10,000 EQPs (NOT EQMs) during the time period of February 12th, 2015 through April 12th, 2015:

FoundersCard Status Challenge T&Cs

Why I care

About a month ago, I resigned myself to the fact that I would have no airline status of any kind when the clock struck midnight on February 28th, 2015 – and that was fine.

I’ve given up on Delta, though still find ~~I’m forced~~ an opportunity to fly their metal from time to time.

But unequivocally, American Airlines has the best thing going of all the legacy carriers with their AAdvantage program.

If I lose Platinum status, my rate of earning goes back to 1 mile earned per 1 mile flown – generous these days – but as a Platinum, I’ve been earning a 100% bonus each time (for economy, more miles earned and higher bonus for premium cabins).

I simply like that earning rate and want to keep it – especially if it’s free to get the status. I also only have to earn 10,000 EQPs instead of the usual 50,000 EQMs -or- EQPs. If it’s going to be this (relatively) easy, I’m gonna go for it.

Well, not completely free because now I have to earn 10,000 EQPs on paid fares. But it beats the pants off American’s “Step up your elite status” promo they have going on right now.

What American would charge to keep Platinum Status

You bet your tooshie I’ll be watching The Flight Deal like a hawk for the next month or so. I want a fare that earns 1 EQP per mile flown, but American is notorious (to me at least) for booking economy into N, O, or S (sometimes Q, hardly ever see G) fare buckets. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, they say.

AA fare buckets

This will also be a nice jumping off point into Executive Platinum, which I’ve never attained. I’m of the mindset of “if it happens, it happens.” Most of my flying last year was on mistake/ultra-low fares or award redemptions, so we’ll see what shakes out in 2015.

Regarding the second Challenge: you cannot repeat Status Challenges for two consecutive years. So if you did one in 2014, you can’t do another one in 2015. I did my last one in 2013, so I’m eligible to repeat the Challenge. The final say is up to American, of course, but they allowed me to repeat the Challenge this year.

Bottom line

FoundersCard is offering free Platinum Status Challenges to their members, which would otherwise be $200. Here’s a link to the Flyer Guide Wiki about AA Challenges.

I’ve also written extensively about FoundersCard in the past, which I personally find to be a great complement to my travel goals.

Is anyone else doing a Status Challenge this year, on American or another airline? Is having “status” even more it any more?

Hotel Review: Park Inn by Radisson Danube, Bratislava

January 23, 2015 by Harlan 3 Comments

Also see:

Club Carlson-ing my way through Europe

As part of Eurotrip 2014, I found myself in the position of being on a train to Bratislava, Slovakia.

I suppose stranger things have happened

Once there, me and my friend Angie got out of the train station, hopped in a cab, and promptly got scammed by a cabbie with a hot meter. Between that and the somewhat griminess of the train station, I was ~~kinda~~ definitely thinking, “What the hell did I get myself into?”

However, I am happy to report, I ultimately found Bratislava to be a progressive city, one rebuilding itself, modernizing in the right ways, and moving full-force into new and diverse industries. The atmosphere of the city was energetic. I could feel the momentum and drive in the air, which was wonderful.

And aside from that one cab driver, everyone else was completely kind and even eager to talk. I also saw lots of tourists, which apparently Club Carlson hasn’t caught onto yet, because the Park Inn by Radisson Danube is a mere Category 1, requiring just 9,000 Gold Points for two award nights (if you have the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature card).

The Park Inn by Radisson Danube shares a space with lots of vendors on the ground/retail floor, but it’s fairly obvious where it’s located – at the base of a little square, nearest to the river. I had to look for the sign and wasn’t sure exactly where I was going, but I went with it and ended up at the right place (the taxi driver only gave vague hand motions and spoke no English so I wandered away after being scammed for 20 Euros – grrr).

Check-in was very routine. I was placed in a “Business room.” The agent acknowledged my Gold status and thanked me for staying. Then I headed to the elevator and up to my room.

The room

What is Club Carlson Visa’s annual 40K Gold Points bonus worth?

January 22, 2015 by Harlan 19 Comments

Also see:

I’ve said over and over that I think the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature card is one of the best for everyday, non-bonused spend. In addition to 5 Gold Points per dollar on every purchase, you also get buy-one-get-one-free award bookings, and an annual bonus of 40,000 Gold Points by renewing the card – which is $75 per year.

Got my annual 40K Gold Points bonus!

My bonus posted a couple of days ago and got me thinking: what is the annual bonus actually worth? Or rather, what could it be worth? After Club Carlson-ing my way through Europe a few months ago, I can firmly say, “a lot.” But I like putting numbers and values to things, and hence this post was born.

Club Carlson has an awesome online interactive tool where you can filter hotels by category… which is pretty sweet. They currently have Categories 1-7, but for this post, I’m only going to focus on 1-5.

Category 1

This category can get you 8 free nights at Club Carlson properties.

How?

With the buy-one-get-one (BOGO), you pay just 9,000 Gold Points for every 2 nights. Even if you book 8 nights at Category 1 hotels, you’d still have 4,000 points left over – and realistically if you stay 8 nights in a hotel, you’ll get 5,000 more from room charges (make sure to charge everything to your room at Club Carlson properties, because with the card you get 30 POINTS PER DOLLAR – 20 points per dollar for being Gold + 10 more points per dollar for using the credit card – which is insanely awesome!). And then you could book 10 free nights. 🙂

A few Category 1 properties that jump out at me are:

8 nights in Sofia would run you ~$500

Park Inn By Radisson Sofia – Sofia, Bulgaria
Park Inn by Radisson Budapest – Budapest, Hungary
Radisson Blu Hotel, Alexandria – Alexandria, Egypt
Park Inn Jaipur Jai Singh Highway – Jaipur, India

8 nights in Bratislava would also run you ~$500

Park Inn Danube, Bratislava – Bratislava, Slovakia

This is a pretty sparse category, but if you are in the right place at the right time, it could really be a boon.

Category 2

Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island

January 22, 2015 by Harlan 7 Comments

From the way overdue files…

To NAN

As part of my epic RTW trip, my first two segments were JFK-LAX in American First Class, then LAX-NAN (Nadi, Fiji) on Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific) in economy.

You know, I gotta say… it was about an 11 hour flight time, an overnight flight. Even though the seats didn’t recline, it really wasn’t that bad. The seats were spacious for economy, there was great IFE, and they served meals and snacks. I wadded up a hoodie and tried to fall asleep as best as I could, considering.

I knew going into it to set my expectations low, but the flight was actually pretty comfortable. The cabins had great colors and were designed well, the flight attendants were personable, the food wasn’t amazing but at least they served us full meals, and I can’t complain too much about the economy seat, honestly.

And when the plane door opened up in Fiji, I felt my lungs and skin instantly moisten from the humid Pacific air. I’d been in a particularly frigid New York winter with too much dry radiator heat and the humidity was so welcome and wonderful.

It’s always an odd feeling to walk around in a tropical place holding full winter regalia, but I was happy to be in Fiji for the first time. Very… island.

Booking the room

Booking Dublin: Hotels

January 7, 2015 by Harlan 6 Comments

The Delta attack on United hubs elicited my first post written in utter excitement with ~~little~~ no editing.

After I booked the Dublin trip, I realized there were more pieces that had to fall into place, and thought it would be a good opportunity to document my trip-planning process.

The trip is IAD-ATL-DUB, and back the same way. I’m in New York, so I am anticipating:

Booking hotel rooms for six nights
Probably renting a car
Getting myself down to Washington, DC from NYC
Using my American Express Platinum Card to get into Delta and/or Priority Pass lounges in IAD and ATL (and DUB on the way back)
And of course, being in Ireland for the first time

Hotel options

Just booked: IAD-ATL-DUB-ATL-IAD in May for $223 R/T A/I!

January 5, 2015 by Harlan 6 Comments

Per the Flight Deal, fares to Dublin (and several other destinations), Delta is aggressively attacking fares to United hubs.

How aggressive?

Base fares are pricing at $1 OR LESS. You are only paying the taxes and fuel surcharges!

IAD-ATL-DUB is pricing out at $323 for several days in early May and it’s still available. I got in on this and can’t wait to go (although not thrilled that it’s on Delta – I credited to Alaska for the first time).

$1 base fare!

I will earn ~4,500 Alaska miles by crediting to Mileage Plan even with the V fare bucket. You’d earn just 1,105 with SkyMiles

In addition to all of this, I had a $100 egift certificate I bought with my American Express Platinum back in the day and never used, which brought my total down to $223 round-trip and all-in. I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland, and at just over $200, I couldn’t say no!

If you want to get in on this, I’d recommend booking ASAP. I’m usually not one for breaking news, but I’m super excited about going to Ireland and wanted to share in case anyone else would like to go. Lots of other cities/countries/continents/airlines are included in this sale so play around get yourself a great deal – especially to a place you’ve always wanted to go!

Be sure to look at the Flight Deal links above and play with dates into and out of the hubs. A list of airline hubs is here and the best place to check out flights is the ITA Matrix.

Good luck and godspeed!

Time to Set New Travel Goals

January 2, 2015 by Harlan 12 Comments

Also see:

Goosenecks in Utah

The first of the year is always a good time to reassess everything in the FF universe. All the clocks have just been reset to zero and we hang onto our statuses until the end of February. I’m going to lose Platinum with American. It’s my first time in a few years not having status with any airline.

I also have to decide whether or not I want that British Airways Travel Together certificate. I’ve been weighing the pros and cons – and as of right now, it’s not looking so appealing just due to the dang fuel surcharges. I’m also not sure if I want this year to be as Europe-centric as last year. My travel goals are pulling me to Asia and back to South America, although there are still many European countries I’d love to visit.

With all this in mind, I’ve begun the process of writing down my goals for the year.

I have four categories that I set up for goals:

Personal
Career/Business
Health
Travel

I set up a file in Evernote and type everything out, stream-of-consciousness style, in no order at all.

Then I go through and polish it up a little, connect the dots, expand, and refine.

I also did something this year that I’ve never done before: I wrote a letter to my future self, with a reminder set for one year from now. This is my way of holding myself accountable for the goals I set, and it gives my subconscious something to strive toward. It was also surprisingly cathartic.

I find that writing/typing out a goal is much better than keeping it in “the back of my mind.” If you don’t have Evernote, it’s a great thing to have even if you just use it for this one purpose.

Travel goals

Hotel Review: InterContinental Sydney, Australia

January 1, 2015 by Harlan 6 Comments

From the way overdue files…

This time last year, I celebrated the start of 2014 in Sydney at the InterContinental.

I got in on the annual Daily Getaways promo to buy 150,000 IHG points – and promptly redeemed them for three nights in a “King Standard City Side Room.”

Now, I expected the area downtown to be crazy for New Years Eve. The location was amazing.

Location of the InterContinental Sydney

I don’t remember how, but I was somehow Gold with IHG at the time. This was with zero stays – maybe I status matched? Whatever the case, I am still Gold with them today despite not having any paid stays in 2013 or 2014. Mysteries of the universe.

I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d get some sort of upgrade for being Gold during a time where there would be a lot of tourists with no status. I didn’t expect it, but thought I had a ghost of a chance.